“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
-Epictetus
I am an anesthesiologist, and I’m convinced that I have the best anesthesiology job in the world. I provide anesthesia services at an ambulatory surgery center in Jackson and have the great fortune to work with talented surgeons and superb clinical staff. Teton Outpatient Services provides excellent care and it’s just an all-around fantastic place to work. One day, I’ll get to writing the story of how I lucked into such a great gig, but that’s for another time. If there is a downside to my job (this is also true of many anesthesiology jobs) it’s that I rarely know exactly when I will be finished with my day. Some days surgical procedures take longer than expected, sometimes surgeries get cancelled for various reasons, some days we have many surgeries and other days very few. The bottom line is that quittin’ time can be highly variable on any given day.
Well, today I wound up finishing work significantly earlier than I thought, so I decided to try to knock out another low-elevation hike allowing me to get some more stamina as well as avoid the lingering snow at higher elevations. The task for today was Taggart Lake trailhead to Amphitheater Lake trail junction. This trail is very popular, but many people only go to Taggart Lake. They don’t go further to Bradley Lake, and I suppose that most people that make it that far don’t head any further to the Amphitheater Lake trail.
My thoughts as I walked and jogged along the trail today centered around only worrying about the things that I can control. It has been raining a lot in the Tetons recently – the usual Wyoming spring weather is here, and that means generally clear mornings, increasing clouds throughout the day, and afternoon thunderstorms. While the weather today seemed fairly menacing, I decided to take advantage of my good fortune and head out anyway, thinking as I eyed the looming clouds, I certainly can’t control the weather. I need to focus on the things that I can control – my motivation to get into the Park, my preparedness, my attitude toward being wet, and my ability to deal with discomfort. So many things are out of our control, and I for one, have suffered too much being upset or angry or worried about situations that arise about which I can do absolutely nothing.
This idea is firmly rooted at the heart of much of Stoic philosophy. Indeed, one of the central themes of Stoicism is that life can be miserable, it can be stressful, it can disappoint, but how we react to that is what decides if we live in anxious misery or cheerfully well. It’s a simple idea, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to implement. I think it’s an idea, at least for me, that will take dedicated effort on my part to put into practice. I am going to start by trying to at least recognize what I can control and what I cannot. That is a beginning.
The hike today was beautiful and fairly uneventful. The trail to Bradley Lake was almost completely snow-free and pleasant enough as I hiked beyond that to the Amphitheater Lake Trail junction. As I was jogging back, above Bradley Lake, I did pass a group of 5 young Germans (?) who warned me that they had just seen a “huge grizzly bear” on the trail about a half a kilometer further down the trail. Suddenly here were another two things out of my control – the potential presence of a grizzly nearby and the fact that this person just gave me a distance in half kilometers. I was already a bit uncomfortable on my own, I hadn’t seen any other people on this part of the trail, and these young adults seemed pretty spooked. Now I’m trying convert distances as I noisily continued down the trail, and for the first time ever, I unholstered my bear spray and removed the safety clip. I walked that way for most definitely more than a half kilometer just to be on the safe side. Thankfully, I did not see the bear, but I’m guessing it saw me. Overall, it was a very enjoyable hike, and I didn’t even get wet!
Mileage – 7.0 miles
Time – 2 hours 16 minutes
BGAS – 0
PS – 51
Guys in jeans – 3